Piston packing ring



F. D. FRl SBY PISTON PACKING RING Aug. 26, 1952 Filed Sept. 3: 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR.

HIS ATTORNEYS Aug. 26, 1952 FRlsBY 2,608,453

PISTON PACKING RING Filed Sept. 3, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 v INVENTORZ zz aw m 2/ H15 ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 26, 1952 PISTON PACKING RING Frank D. F1'iShy','St. Louis, Mo.,.asslgnor to Frisby Corporation St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application September 3, 1949; Serial No. 114,028

Thisinuention relatestto improvements in com-- posite: piston packing rings of the general class described in my United States. Letters Patent No.

2359.357? dated January 18, 1949.v

This invention is embodied in a piston packing ring comprising a flexible sealing element and an integrant tensioning element in. cooperative relation therewith.

A :helical. ringwelement, as it is known in the tradamay have a. crimp in its-middle coil (or coils). for. insuring that the. outercoils will lie in. parallel planes A spiral. ring element, as it is; knownin the trade, may havev a. crossover therein for; insuring". that thetinner coils will be concentric with the outer coil, the coils generally being large segments of circles. A. helico ring:- is a combining form of a helical ring and a spiral ring; and has an internal frictional suriace on a plane parallel to the axis of the ring and also an internal frictional. surface on a; plane; atlrig ht angles: to the axis; with a. positive interaction: due. toxthe bonded assemblyv of the elementsi acting as one continuous piece or part, so, asto utilize the frictional surfaces described; {Ifihe helico ring has the; ability to transmit tens sion with. uniform distribution around the sealing element's entire outer circumference andl'to Another-objectis: to. provide. a piston: packing ring having a variable high degree of internal 16 Claims. (01. 309- 14) frictional resistance within an. element (or elements) and between the elements when the: ring is forced to contract (or wind up) in. a cylinder because of: torsion, taper; or wear in: the surface of the: cylinder wall, This; action provides unusnak resistance to ring collapse and improves the compression and oil. ring. 7

Another object of the present invention is to provide a packing ring of the type hereinafter described. in: which the torsional effect may be obtainedimei-ther direction (up or down) by correctly positioning. the contact point on. the face element. with respect to the radial force position of. the expanding element to provide. a concentric sealing. action.

Still. another object is to provide packing rings of. forms. and. materials which will improve precontrol; properties of the cision die. and rolling methods of manufacture andtreduce machining. operations to a minimum to produce a low cost, efiicient packing ring. having a long service life.

.A helico ring of two or more turns combines the desirable characteristics of. both a helical ring: and a spiral :ring one. ringg one turn. being a flexible sealing element made from. a material providing the most compatible sealing'relationship with a. cylinder wall; i

The object of dual rings as shown in Figs 16 is to produce a better coordination. of action and efficiency in. a. compact .form through a. desired combination. of elements. in. a piston ring. groove. This arrangement is particul'arly efi'ective for the new high compression engines where maximum compression. and oil: control. are required for a minimum area on short headed pistons (the dis-' tance from the top of a wrist pin hole tothe top of a piston).

In the helico ring hereinafter described; the expander {element has a high: degree of circularity" and is in contactwith the sealing or face ele ment around said sealing elements inner circumfcrencepsaid" circularity being transmitted and reflected-in the precision concentricity of the sealing elements outer circumference in contact with the cylinder wall surface;

The helico ring may bepreloaded and isshown inexpand'ed preloaded form in'Fig. 1 so that the expander element exerts a tension of a desired degree; The preload'ing-may be accomplished by rolling the expander element to a larger free diameter'than the free. diameter of the recess in the sealing element with which the expander element is to cooperate. Accordingly, the expander element is under a degree oftensionwhen assembled in the sealing. element; It is preferable to. load the sealing element. sothat its. inside diam eter is approximately equal to the outside diam.- eter of the pistonhead, so. that little. additional; expansion isv necessary to install. the ring on th e-i piston head. This combination facilitates inst-al lation. on. a piston and. substantially increases the efficient. service life. of the ring..

The invention also consists in the combinations parts hereinafter describedof ahelico ringhaving; an expandenelemenh bonded to a tapered compression ring in expanded preloaded form,

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the combination shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of a pair of spiral expanders bonded or attached to a pair of torsion compression rings at the points indicated by the marks xf achri'ngjhaving independent'action;

this figure and the following figures show the rings in contracted form with enlarged thicknesses with respect to their diameters for clarity,

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the com-- binations shown in Fig. 3,

' struction is preferably removed from the bond.

An improved torsion scraper compression ring F shown in Fig. 11 has an expander element I9 Fig. 5 is a bottom view of 'a spiral expander element, formed by bonding separate turns, bonded to a sealing element,

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the come bination shown in Fig. 5,

Fig. 7 is a bottom viewof a helico ring,

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of the ring shown'inFig'l, l

' FigifQ is a bottom view of another helico'ring,

Fig. 10 is a side elevational view of device shown in Fig. 9,

Fig. llis a plan viewof a torsion scraper compression ring bonded at one point to a single expander element for forming a helico ring,

"Fig; 12 is a side elevational View, of the device shown in Fig. 11,

Fig. 13 is a cross-sectionalview taken along the line I3-l3'in Fig. 11,

Fig. '14 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 11, 3

Fig; 15 isan enlargedvertical cross-sectional view of a pis'ton'head .equippedwith my new ringsyxw. I

Fig. lfiis an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of a pistonhead equipped with my new rings for use particularly eifective on short headed pistons, and

Fig. 17 is a side view of ringG in Fig. 15.

Thep'iston ring construction A shown in Fig. 1

is a helico ring in normal, full size and in expanded preloaded form prior to insertion in a groove on a piston head. 1 The ring construction A comprises a sealing element i having a gap-2 and recess-3 therein, and an expander element 4 bonded or attached to saidring I at the place indicated by the marks XX 1 In the piston ringconstruction B shown in Fig. 3, a spiral expander element 5 with a crossover ,6 at its. center isbonded at the point X to -asealing element I having a tapered face 8 with a largecorner radius 9. Obviously the face may be varied according to the action the sealing element is to perform. H

' The piston ring construction C shown in Fig. 5 consists of 'a spiral expander 10 formedby bonding 'separate turns which contact each other, as in the aforesaid construction, in a form of con centric circularity over a wide range of action (circumferential expansion and contraction)' through which a piston ringmay be subjected during the stroke of the piston. The gap II of thesealing element is preferably displaced about 'and a sealing'element 20 bonded at one point,

preferably by die forming methods. The expander element I9 rests in a continuous annular channel 2! at the inner circumference of the sealing elementZfl which has a retaining edge to' hold the expander element in assembled position around its circumference while in preloaded form. A: continuous recess 22.-is' provided-around the outer circumference of, the'sealing elementfor oil scraping and torsion 'action "as indicated by the arrow. As the 'expanderielement 1-9 applies radial force at a point below these'aling face, the sealing"elementtwists into a torsion position permitting the large corner radius 23 on the outer circumference of the sealing element 20 to create an excellent seal between the'ring elements, cylindrical wall and the piston ring groove 24. .The sealing element-"20' may have 'a' partly slottedradial wall (approximately50%) for maximum flexibility of actionwith eightsuprings. Aheat dam 25 is'located in' the'upper portion-of the piston head'Zfi.

turn flat 's'ection expander element .21 bonded thereto; The; face 28 of :the sealing element is tapered and has a large corner radius 29' thereon. This ring G is designed to twist in the'j'di rection shown by the arrow; Each of the rings A, and E is fitted i-nto its respective groove with the usual clearance. i

' Fig. 16is'an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of a short headed piston having a heat dam 3| and anupper groove 32 and'a lower groove 33 for receiving two pairs of my ring con-'- structions in'a desirable combination. The short headed piston 30 shown has a pair of helico rings as shown in Fig. 7 and Fig; 8, in the upper groove 32 each o'fsaid helicotrings comprising a. single turn expander element bonded to a torsion scraper compression ring. In the lower groove 33 is .a pairof piston rings each comprising a sealing element with alarge corner radius and a spiral expander element.

The various expander elementsdisclosed herein" may be combined with various sealingelements in numerous combinations. Similarly, different pairs of rings may be placed'in the two'grooves" on the short headed piston according to the re- The'ring G is'a' torsion metering compression ring having a single but depend on a controlled combination of radial expanding force and a contracting action in which there is increasing frictional resistance between the elements, which have no contact with the bottoms of the grooves.

Conventional expander elements depend on expanding radial force which becomes greatly reduced as wear increases so that their life of emcient service is reduced. When wear appears on the contacting surfaces of the helioo ring constructions hereinbefore described, the variable shape of the cylinder controls the contracting action of the expander element and regulates the internal frictional resistance to changes in diameter and shape of the cylinder wall so that the greater the wear, the greater the winding and unwinding action, and therefore, the greater the frictional resistance increase between the elements. This frictional resistance is of an instantaneous nature in operation.

What I claim is:

1. A piston packing ring comprising an annular sealing element having a gap therein, and an expander element positioned in said sealing element and bonded thereto at one point to form a helico ring.

2. A piston packing ring comprising an annular sealing element having a gap therein, and said sealing element having an annular channel on its inner circumference, an expander element positioned in said annular channel and bonded to said sealing element at one point to form a helico ring.

3. A piston packing ring comprising an annular sealing element having a, gap therein, said sealing element having a peripheral recess therein along an inner edge thereof and an expander element of at least one turn and positioned in said recess in said sealing element and bonded thereto at one point.

4. A piston packing ring comprising an annular sealing element having a gap therein, said sealing element having an inner peripheral recess therein along an inner edge thereof, and an expander element having a free diameter larger than the free diameter of the recess with which it is to cooperate and bonded thereto at one point.

5. A piston packing ring comprising an annular split sealing element, and an expander element of at least one turn and positioned in said sealing element and bonded thereto, said ring capable of expanding outwardly because of radial pressure and resisting circumferential contraction because of positive instantaneous frictional resistance between said elements.

6. A piston packing ring comprising an annular split sealing element having an annular recess therein, an expander element of at least one turn positioned insaid recess and bonded thereto at a point to create a positive instantaneous opposed reaction between said elements over their area of contact. I 1

7. The combination set forth in claim '6 wherein said sealing element is preloaded to an 1 inside diameter approximately equal to the outside diameter of the piston head on which said sealing element is to be installed.

8. A piston packing ring comprising an annular sealing element having a gap therein and a large corner radius thereon, said sealing element having an annular channel on its inner circumference, and an expander element positioned in said annular channel and bonded to said sealing element at one point to form a helico ring.

9. The combination set forth in claim 8 wherein the inwardly facing wall of said annular channel is provided with an angle to increase frictional pressure between the elements.

10. The combination set forth in claim 3 wherein said expander element applies radial force at a point so that the sealing element twists into a torsion position.

11. A piston packing ringcomprising an annular split sealing element having an annular recess therein, an expander element of at least one turn positioned in said recess, one end of said expander element overlapping an opposite end of said sealing element and bonded thereto to provide a positive opposed frictional reaction between the elements over their area of contact.

12. A piston packing ring comprising an annular split sealing element, and an expander element disposed within the side wall of said sealing element and bonded thereto, said expander element being in the form of a spiral operating expansively against the sealing element on all points in its circumference.

13. A piston packing ring comprising an annular sealing element having a gap therein, and an expander element disposed within said sealing element and bonded thereto, said expander ele ment being in the form of a spiral of at least two turns, said spiral operating expansively against the sealingelement.

14. A piston packing ring comprising an annular sealing element having a gap therein, and an expander element disposed within said sealing element and bonded thereto, said expander element being in the form of a spiral operating expansively against the sealing element.

15. A piston packing ring comprising an annular sealing element having a gap therein, and an expander element disposed within said sealing element and bonded thereto, said expander element being formed by two separate turns bonded together to form a spiral, said spiral operating expansively against-the sealing element.

16. A piston packing ring comprising an annular sealing element having a gap therein, and an expander element disposed within said sealing element and bonded thereto at approximately from said gap, said expander element being formed by two separate turns bonded together to form a spiral, said spiral operating expansively against the sealing element.

FRANK n. FRIsBY.

REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

